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2024-25 New York at Work Report

Now in its fifth year, the 2024-25 New York at Work report draws on ILR expertise, research-based data and policy analysis on a broad range of key issues affecting the state’s workers, unions, communities and employers. It is intended to serve as an informative, accessible and relevant resource for policymakers and the public.

2024-25 NY at Work cover
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Justice at Work: Belonging

See more justice at work and belonging

Report: Erie Co. Working Women Earn Less, And They Know It

Cornell Chronicle
Women working in Erie County simultaneously experience lower pay and more significant barriers to success relative to men, according to a new report released by the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab.
Gender wage gap
Report: Erie Co. Working Women Earn Less, And They Know It

DisabilityStatistics.org Offers Visualization and Local Data

For those who need data about disability, the revamped DisabilityStatistics.org website offers a wide range of information. A Feb. 26 webinar will introduce new data and features.
Screenshot of Disability Statistics Home page shows the tagline "Disability stats your way". It also shows an athlete doing a sqat. The athlete has a prosthetic leg.
DisabilityStatistics.org Offers Visualization and Local Data

Bill Erickson Has a Spreadsheet with 3.2 Million Rows

As lead researcher for the DisabilityStatistics.org website, Bill Erickson’s goal is to help people understand the numbers behind disability. In this Q&A, Bill shares how he does this and gives insight into his field.
Bill Erickson seated at a speaker’s table while giving a presentation. He is wearing a white button-up dress shirt with a red tie. He is seated in front of an American flag and behind a laptop, mic, and coffee cup.
Bill Erickson Has a Spreadsheet with 3.2 Million Rows

New York State: Economy, Policy, and Practice

See more stories about our work in New York State

As a New York land-grant college, we have a state mandate to apply our work in service to our local communities, state and regional economies, and partners in governance. We create and share knowledge, build relationships, and inform strategies aimed at improving economic well-being for all New Yorkers.

Coupling our strong physical foundations in Buffalo, Ithaca, and New York City, our resources and infrastructure allow us to pursue local innovations that have global implications.

Cost of living a major concern for New York workforce

Cornell Chronicle
Now in its fifth year, the 2024-25 New York at Work report draws on ILR expertise, research-based data and policy analysis on a broad range of key issues affecting the state’s workers, unions, communities and employers.
2024-25 NY at Work cover
Cost of living a major concern for New York workforce

Climate Jobs Institute Charts New York’s Clean Energy Progress and Path Ahead

On April 30th, Cornell ILR’s Climate Jobs Institute (CJI) released Update on New York’s Renewable Energy Policies, Plans and Progress, a report on how the Empire State is advancing towards its clean energy goals under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
solar workers
Climate Jobs Institute Charts New York’s Clean Energy Progress and Path Ahead

Working Together Emphasized at YTI Conference

Hosted by the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, the conference Working Together: Advancing Disability Inclusion in NYS Workplaces brought together leaders, providers, educators, and self-advocates for presentations and conversations.
Susanne Bruyere, speaking at the Working Together conference
Working Together Emphasized at YTI Conference

A driving principle behind our research, teaching, training, and practice is that everyone deserves fair and equal access to jobs, housing, healthcare, and other means for achieving economic security. Our work seeks solutions that remove inequitable barriers to economic opportunities, whether those barriers occur within an individual workplace or at the structural levels of our political and economic systems.

You can see a handful of our recent work below.

YTI Asks, ‘Can Career Coaching Be Transformative?’

Researchers are evaluating an Oregon-based career program for people with disabilities that includes a coaching component.
An ICAP participant repairing an engine
YTI Asks, ‘Can Career Coaching Be Transformative?’

Improving Employment in New York

YTI’s recent efforts in our home state of New York have included improving opportunities for people with disabilities to obtain competitive, integrated employment and supporting New York’s efforts to become a model employer of people with disabilities.
New York State Capitol building, Albany, NY
Improving Employment in New York

Student Project: Applying for Unemployment Insurance (Video)

This video examines the unemployment insurance application and appeals process in New York. Including interviews with legal professionals and a former claimant, the video informs viewers on the steps of the UI application process, best practices when applying for UI and what to expect during the application and appeals process.
Applying for Unemployment Insurance: A Guide from Cornell ILR School and LawNY
Student Project: Applying for Unemployment Insurance (Video)

Collective Representation and Worker Voice

See more stories about collective representation workers' voices

We were founded to study and improve the world of work. We have strong research roots in labor relations and negotiations, and our work with varying communities comes from our commitment to understanding collective representation, the perspectives of workers, and improving workers' lives.

Why Federal Contracts are Important for Promoting Quality Work and Wages

How have recent policy changes affected federal contractors and others in their industries? Anne Marie Brady of the Worker Institute outlines the framework of laws regulating federal contracts, which have historically ensured worker protections.
Photo of a piece of paper that says "CONTRACT" coming out of a typewriter
Why Federal Contracts are Important for Promoting Quality Work and Wages

Social Media Can Amplify Worker Voice, but Fades Over Time

Social media can influence workplace policies by amplifying worker voice but fail to drive meaningful workplace improvement when workers lack support from labor unions or civil society organizations, according to new research by Duanyi Yang, assistant professor in the ILR School.
upraised hands grasping smarthphones
Social Media Can Amplify Worker Voice, but Fades Over Time

Worker Voice and AI in the Workplace

Researchers Virginia Doellgast, Ines Wagner, and Sean O’Brady found that works councils and unions in Germany and Norway were able to successfully negotiate the implementation of AI in their workplaces. Here we highlight some key findings unions, worker representatives, and policymakers can apply in other settings.
Photo of computer screen and headset with microphone
Worker Voice and AI in the Workplace

Leadership Development

We work with communities, organizations, departments and companies – all to help develop leaders who will make workplaces and employment itself better. Foundations in management and collective bargaining, and our 75 years in industry put us in a unique position to help develop leaders in business, labor and policy.

CAHRS

Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies

CAHRS is the world's leading partnership between industry and academia, devoted to global human resource management. The CAHRS partnership connects leading companies to Cornell University, the ILR School, and leading faculty, students and intellectual leaders throughout the world.

several towers from Cornell's Ithaca campus
Visit CAHRS

Labor Leadership Training

We work with union leaders at national and state levels to develop training programs for aspiring and established leaders within the labor field.

Explore labor leadership programs

Senior Leader Programs

We bring together world-class faculty with business and industry leaders to design and deliver training systems that develop HR, business and management leaders. Learn from world-class faculty dedicated to HR research and driving organizational performance.

Man leaning reflected against city glass door
Find out more about our senior leadership training

New Report Highlights 20+ Years of ULI’s Impact on New York’s Labor Leadership

A revealing evaluation shows how the Union Leadership Institute has empowered hundreds of leaders to strengthen the labor movement and advance equity across New York State.
ULI Cohort 2024-2025
New Report Highlights 20+ Years of ULI’s Impact on New York’s Labor Leadership

Worker Institute Researcher Elected to NYAAPOR Council

Michael Lenmark, Survey Statistician at the Worker Institute, has been elected as the Associate Secretary Treasurer for the American Association for Public Opinion Research, New York.
Michael Lenmark
Worker Institute Researcher Elected to NYAAPOR Council

High Road NYC Enters Its Third Year

Cornell ILR’s High Road New York City program began its third year at the start of June. 24 ILR undergraduates will spend eight weeks working across 17 partner organizations around the city for a summer full of engaged learning.
High Road NYC students gather for a photo with invited speaker Adam Klein and program director Esta Bigler.
High Road NYC Enters Its Third Year

ILR in the News

Our work from the media

See more ILR news coverage

Trump’s Problematic Pick to Lead BLS Expected to Face Senate Hearing After All

Talking Points Memo
“We were very intentional about putting out the qualities that we were looking for, and I guess I feel like I should leave it to the Senate to make that determination,” said Erica Groshen, ILR senior labor market advisor and former Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, commenting on commissioner qualifications.
Trump’s Problematic Pick to Lead BLS Expected to Face Senate Hearing After All

Finally got a handle on auto parts tariffs? There may be more parts added to the list

Automotive News
Arthur Wheaton, senior extension associate at the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, discusses tariff impacts on the global auto industry.
Finally got a handle on auto parts tariffs? There may be more parts added to the list

Granville’s sister-in-law, a Buffalo police lieutenant now at center of criminal probe

The Buffalo News
Lee Adler, ILR visiting lecturer, comments on investigations being conducted into a 2024 incident that caused an official in the Erie County Sheriff’s Office to be suspended without pay for 30 days.
Granville’s sister-in-law, a Buffalo police lieutenant now at center of criminal probe